PATTAYA – The sandbags and fence left over from the long-stalled Pattaya Beach restoration project have been removed, but questions remain over when officials will restart the critical work to save the shoreline from erosion.
Mayor Anan Charoenchasri earlier ordered a two-week cleanup of the beach in North Pattaya, where an ugly fence and even uglier sandbags were abandoned nearly a year ago by Marine Construction Co., which had won the 429-million-baht project to refill the sand on Pattaya Beach.
Work was halted in December after the city failed to secure sand matching the local beachfront and the area was taken over by vagrants and petty thieves who used it as a hideout and toilet.
Concerned with the city’s image during next month’s international fleet show, Anan ordered construction zone ripped down and spruced up, giving tourists more space on the shrinking beach.
Pressed for answers when the city would restart a project deemed necessary to prevent Pattaya Beach from disappearing completely a few years from now, Anan said a new sand source has been identified, but its use is still undergoing an initial environmental review.
He offered no timeline on when any actual refill of Pattaya Beach might begin.
